Saul Chosen, Anointed and Proclaimed to Be King

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 10:20-24

20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.
21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.
22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.
24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

In our last post, verses immediately prior to our text for the day, Samuel dressed down the nation of Israel for rejecting God as their king. Describing Israel’s attitude towards God in this rejection, Samuel described Israel’s attitude as disdain, or that the nation considered God loathsome. Samuel did not hold anything back during this time of national crisis!

After this dressing down of the nation, Samuel brought all the tribes together. Remember the nation has never had a king provided for them before, so the nation may not be sure why they were called together. Could judgement be falling on them due to their rejection of God? Could a punishment be forthcoming, ready to fall on a nation in rebellion against God?

No – Their king was to be revealed. Another instance of the grace of God in meeting the people of God where they were! Yet the Lord in His wisdom saw this coming in Deuteronomy 17.

Deuteronomy 17:14-15

“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me, you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

Judgement was not falling on the nation yet, though some of the future earthly kings caused much destruction to the nation, eventually bringing them into bondage and captivity. But that is for a later discussion. At this time, Samuel brought the people together to reveal to them their king.

After the process of determining the tribe and family the future king would come from, his name is announced to the nation. But the man was no where to be found! Not only absent, but hidden so effectively that the nation can not find their king. Can you imagine the internal conflict of those who sought prayer before God for direction in finding the king they chose instead of God. Consider the grace of God in providing a king to a rebellious people, and then having to direct the nation to this replacement king, a man who is hiding in the supplies. A man who is running from his calling.

But all of that doesn’t matter, for Saul looked good. He was not like any of those around him, handsome and tall! Saul was tall, and that may have been a redeeming characteristic of the new king, once the nation eventually found their leader. After all, many of the nations had tall kings, and many of the peoples surrounding Israel had tall leaders. I’m thinking of Goliath at this time, for he surely was tall and a leader. But how much does that count when we are speaking of leading a nation for God?

But the nation has finally received a king like all the nations!

Yet to have to search for their king must have hurt the national pride, the national image. Saul was not a man who was self assured, confident, even boisterous in his capabilities, willing and able to lead a nation as a king, full of courage! Golly, this fella didn’t have the courage to face his own people.

Consider the roller coaster ride of emotions for the nation during this time. The nation went from a fear of discipline, to anticipation of who the king would be, to disappointment of no king showing up, to embarrassment of having to ask the King they rejected to find the king who would be God’s replacement, and then finally attaining some type of acceptance based on the standards of the world.

What an day! And what a future to anticipate, not only in the near term, with a king like Saul, but for the national destiny! To put the future of the nation in the hands of a fallen man just seems so tenuous, so temporary!

Yes, I would like to remind my gentle reader that we are so like the nation of Israel, for we also seek to find approval of our wordly neighbors, to want to be like them, to live the lives they are living. We also need to recognize when we are reading the Word, it is most helpful to see ourselves in the villains place, and not the hero’s place. To identify with the hero may simply become a way of deceiving ourselves.

Humility demands we understand our weakness, our propensity of acting like the nation of Israel, of our leaning towards destruction and death. The nation of Israel is a history we should be familiar with in order to learn from.

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Our God is a merciful and gracious God, who though warning us of our rejection, will also bend down to reach us, to pick us up, and provide direction to us in finding our true King, Jesus the Christ, who is no longer hidden, no longer a mystery, but graciously revealed to His saints.

Colossians 1:26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

Our King is not like the nations kings, and for that we should be eternally grateful!

---

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible